The blog for news, events, releases and commentary from Castle Perilous Games & Books. located in downtown Carbondale IL. New posts every Monday and Wednesday.

Friday, January 12, 2018

Card Game of the Week: Protested Game

When people think of game protests, the first game that comes to mind is generally Dungeons and Dragons, which had quite a track record of people protesting it during the 1980s and 1990s. More recently, people have protested the racism in Cards Against Humanity. We had a few people protest D&D back in the 1990s but the only other game I ever recall having protested is the one above: Atlas Games Lunch Money.

Lunch Money is a game of school yard combat. Each player has 15 points and a handful of "Hit" cards, such as Kick and Punch, to do damage to your opponents. The image on the card is that of a pre-teen girl generally staring angrily at you.

Some years ago, while set up at a convention, I sold a copy of the game to a pair of teenage boys, since the theme of this game typically appeals to teenagers. They took it off and about an hour later, I had an angry mother dragging a con staff member up to the table, wanting to know if I knew the contents of the game I was selling and why I was selling something that her 5 year old daughter was watching people play. The staff member and I finally managed to point out to her that: 1. It was a card game and 2. we had no control over what her daughter did. Somewhat mollified, she finally left with the staff member and I heard no more about it. Still, that and D&D are the only two instances of protested games we have had. So, if you want the opportunity to own a protested game and don't want to go the Cards Against Humanity route, I recommend Lunch Money.